Applied Net 2025: AI Innovations Power the ‘Intelligent Insurance Era’

• By: Will Jones
• October 9, 2025

Applied Systems hosted its annual Applied Net 2025 conference this week at the Aria Resort in Las Vegas, drawing a record crowd of more than 4,000 independent insurance agents and industry professionals.

This year’s conference made one thing clear: artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a buzzword—it’s becoming a daily tool reshaping how agencies quote, renew and serve clients.

“From personal lines renewals to commercial lines quoting, the next era of insurance will be defined by experiences that are faster, smarter and more personal for every customer,” said Taylor Rhodes, chief executive officer of Applied Systems. “Insurance AI will provide powerful new capabilities that will improve the way insurance work is done.”

During his keynote address, Rhodes told a packed audience that the industry is “moving out of the hype cycle.” Instead of debating whether to adopt AI, he said, independent agents are now asking a different question: “How much faster can we go with it?”

From renewals and quoting to payments and service, Rhodes emphasized that AI has the potential to save not minutes but hours from an agency employee’s day—freeing up time for what Applied calls “Hero Work,” such as relationship building, risk management advice and prospecting.

Applied’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI is reflected in its recent acquisition of Cytora, a U.K.-based technology company specializing in digital risk processing for the insurance industry. The move will help Applied accelerate its vision of delivering what it calls the Digital Roundtrip of Insurance—a connected, end-to-end policy lifecycle encompassing quoting, underwriting, sales, marketing and renewal.

Rhodes also discussed the company’s “dual AMS strategy,” referring to Applied’s flagship agency management systems—Applied Epic and EZLynx—and a host of advancements that have either been recently rolled out or are planned for 2026. The strategy means Applied will continue to enhance both systems, giving agencies flexibility in how they manage their business.

Applied Epic’s latest enhancements use AI to streamline workflows and boost productivity. Applied Book Builder™ turns scattered account data into actionable insights for cross-sell, upsell and renewal opportunities, while Applied Recon™ automates commission reconciliation with near-perfect accuracy directly within Applied Epic.

Meanwhile, EZLynx continues to evolve with updates that unify commercial submission workflows, embed real-time rating tools and use AI to recommend appropriate coverages. The EZLynx Virtual Assistant™ (EVA™) further enhances productivity by summarizing client communications, automating after-hours text replies and auto-filling quote applications from uploaded documents.

“Independent agents face a heavy workload, and without the right technology in place, it can feel impossible to offer clients the level of service they deserve,” said Brenna Johnson, senior vice president of product management at EZLynx. “These new capabilities take busywork off the table so agencies can focus on what really matters: winning business and serving clients at the highest level.”

Still, Rhodes acknowledged that AI’s effectiveness depends on one crucial factor: data quality. Disparate systems and inconsistent workflows continue to complicate day-to-day processes and hinder the industry’s ability to fully leverage AI’s potential.

“Data is like oil,” Rhodes said. “But like oil, it must be refined into gasoline, kerosene and jet fuel before it can be useful. Data has to be cleaned, enriched, structured and understood contextually before it can power AI models.”

Throughout all these changes, Rhodes said Applied’s guiding principle remains constant—the Digital Roundtrip of Insurance will only move faster when driven by AI and powered by the decades of deep industry data it has amassed.

“AI, combined with that deep understanding of what you [agents] do at each stage of the round trip, is about to speed everything up,” he said.

As Applied doubles down on AI and data-driven automation, its message to independent agents is clear: Technology isn’t replacing relationships—it’s giving agents more time to build them.

Will Jones is IA editor-in-chief.